Challenges Of Love
by Digi Yo
Summary: Abhijeet and Tarika face a challenge. Will they overcome it? I suck at summaries!
1. Prologue

**Challenges Of Love**

**Prologue **

BANG.

Abhijeet loudly banged his hands on the table.

"Abhijeet….." Daya said looking at his best friends flinching pained face.

But Abhijeet was not paying any attention to him. "How could they?"

"Abhijeet….."

"What did I ever do to them?"

"Abhijeet…"

Abhijeet looked at Daya irritated. "What?" He said.

"They have left."

Abhijeet's eyes widened. "L…left?"

Daya nodded.

"And you are telling me now?"

"I have been trying to tell you that for like the past twenty minutes." Daya said.

Abhijeet's heart ached. He was trying his best not to cry. He needed her. He needed her desperately but here she was being whisked away from him as far as possible.

"Pune?"

Daya nodded. "As you told me Muskaan and I went over there today only to find the house locked. But I must say that Tarika is real intelligent. She left a note. Right in the bushes where only we could find it."

He pulled out a crumpled paper from the back of his jeans pocket. It was addressed to you but your name was inside and we read it. Sorry 'bout that."

Abhijeet hardly cared about Daya and Muskaan reading letters addressed to him at the moment. He was shattered. He did not know exactly what to do. He was now really waging a battle with his tears which were threatening to overflow.

He looked at the paper.

_Abhijeet. _It said in Tarika's neat handwriting.

_They are dragging me away to Pune to marry that geek. Help me. Come there ASAP_

_Tarika._

Abhijeet gave a sigh and began to think back last three days when all of this had begun.

_**Flashback**_

Abhijeet and Tarika were lying comfortably on the soft sand of the beach. Abhijeet was playing with her curls.

"I love lying here." Tarika said softly.

Abhijeet leaned forwards and kissed her. "Me too. But only because you are here."

Tarika rolled her eyes. "What'll you do if I leave."

Abhijeet's face grew grim and serious. "Don't even say that as a joke. I will truly die."

Little did he know then that in moments a tornado was about to strike both of their lives.

At that moment Tarika's mobile rang. She looked at the caller I.D. "Its Mom." She muttered as she clicked the answer button.

"Hello." She said pushing Abhijeet's hands off her neck since they were giving her a ticklish feeling and she was about to laugh. Her family did not know about Abhijeet since they happened to be strictly against love.

She paused. "Oh okay." She checked the time on her watch. "Right I am nearby. I will be there."

Abhijeet looked at her exquisitely. "My mother and father are coming to Mumbai."

"Are you finally going to tell them about us?" He said.

"Depends on their mood. Mom said she has something urgent to tell me about. They have just got on a flight and they should be here in two hours time. She wanted it to be a surprise but she realized that she doesn't know where I live. It is the first time she is coming here. She called before she switched off her cell. She added that too." Tarika rolled her eyes.

Abhijeet hoped that Tarika would tell her parents about her love but a twist in fate was to come.

Abhijeet met Tarika next two days later while Salunkhe was blabbering something about gun powder on a victim's body Tarika came up to him and whispered. "Meet me outside the lab at 6:00." She seemed really upset but Abhijeet knew that this was neither the right time nor the right place to discuss so he stayed shut.

He wondered the whole day what could be upsetting his girlfriend so much. Time seemed to crawl and Freddie kept irritating him by glaring at him in a weird manner and then saying something stupid causing Vivek, Tasha and Kaajal to bite their mouths from laughing. And it would always end up with him snapping at Freddie causing the other three to laugh harder. Kaajal even caused her lip to bleed once she bit it so hard.

But none of them was aware of what was to come in a few days time.

Finally it was six o' clock and Abhijeet found Tarika outside the Forensic lab. He had a vague idea what this was about. As soon as he neared Tarika she fell on his shoulder and began to sob badly.

"Tarika….. Tarika what happened are you alright?" Abhijeet was scared. Tarika did not usually burst into tears.

"Abhijeet…..Last night…." Then she told him about a big war that began in her family last night…..

"What did you two want to speak to me about?" Tarika said.

"Tarika…We think you should get married." Her father said.

Tarika was glad about that. She thought that this was the opportunity to tell them about Abhijeet but alas before she could utter a word her mother spoke up.

"Tarika you remember your school friend Vikram? We have spoken to his parents and you guys are soon to be engaged." Her mother was beaming as if she had won the gold medal in Olympics. So was her father.

Tarika was stunned. "But….." She said finally. "You never thought of consulting me before taking such a big decision of my life."

"Vikram's best for you."

"No he is not." Tarika said hot tears escaping her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Her father said.

"I meant that I love Abhijeet." Tarika almost screamed.

"Abhijeet? Who's this Abhijeet now?"

"My boyfriend and I wanted to tell you two about him.

"Forensic doctor?" Her father said.

"No. He is Senior Inspector in C.I.D."

Her father and mother exchanged looks.

"You can't marry a C.I.D. officer ." Her mother said firmly.

"But I am in the C.I.D. too." Said Tarika.

"You are in the Forensic department. He goes after so many dangerous people. God knows what might happen when."

"I don't care." Tarika said. "I love him."

"Love is crap. You will get over him. And by the way you got to quit your job since you'll be moving to Pune where Vikram is."

"For the last time Dad I am…."'

"You are marrying Vikram. Forget this Abhinav guy."

"Its Abhi_jeet_ Dad and I will not marry anyone but him."

"And after that we did not talk." Tarika said sobbing into Abhijeet's chest.

"Tarika…" Abhijeet said not knowing what else to say.

"Please save me Abhijeet. I don't want to marry that idiot Vikram or quit the forensic work. I….." Tarika stopped mid sentence and pulled away from Abhijeet and stared behind him a terror and panic stricken look on her face.

Before Abhijeet turned an elderly looking woman came on front and stood next to Tarika and judging by her looks it was definitely her mother.

"I knew something like this would be happening." She said. "So you are Abhijeet." It was a statement and not a question but Abhijeet too was too stunned to say a word.

"Stay away from my daughter." She shrieked at him and grabbed Tarika's hands and dragged her away from him. Tarika had turned to look pleadingly at Abhijeet as she was dragged. And that was the last Abhijeet saw of her.

_**End of Flashback.**_

Daya waved his hand in front of Abhijeet and Abhijeet got out of his thoughts to see Muskaan, Kaajal, Vivek, Freddie, Tasha and Sachin in his apartment. Daya was shoving what apparently seemed a couple of air tickets in front of his face.

"What are they?" He said.

"Have your brains also gone with Tarika Sir? Of course they are air tickets." Muskaan said.

"From Mumbai to Pune." Sachin said.

"All of us are coming." Tasha added.

"But…."

"Come on we go there grab Dr. Tarika and land back here." Vivek said punching the air.

"But…."

"We do that quite a lot, don't we?" Kaajal said.

"But…."

"We have traced her cell phone so we know where she is." Daya said. "Any other but?"

Abhijeet managed to force a smile. "Alright then C.I.D. is off to Pune!"

**I got lots of requests to write an Abhirika in the reviews of my last fic. so here it is. And well I am not very fast with updates. I have a lot of school work to do cause I am a class 10 student so I will mostly update on weekends. Review and tell me if I should continue or not! See you!**


	2. Forgotten and Remembered

**CHAPTER 1: Forgotten And Remembered**

The C.I.D team landed at the Pune airport and made their way out. They had got special permission to carry their guns in the flight without having any security problems.

"I will call a taxi sir." Freddie said.

"Where do we go?" Abhijeet said. He had almost completely forgotten that they would even have to eat and sleep since he had become immune to these things ever since Tarika had gone. He had been in such a hurry to rush there that he completely forgot that they had never come to the city before.

"Um…. Daya?" He slowly said.

"Yes Boss?" Daya said.

"Where do we stay?"

"Oh I have arranged for a hotel."

Freddie came rushing back telling them very proudly that he had got two taxis ready.

"What's such a big deal in that?" Kaajal whispered to Tasha.

"You know Freddie Sir Kaajal!" Tasha said rolling her eyes.

They reached the hotel where they had three rooms booked. Freddie, Vivek and Sachin were sharing one. One was shared by Abhijeet and Daya and the last one by the three girls.

Now they were all in the room of the girls since it was bigger than the rest to decide upon what they should do next. Abhijeet had a look of determination on his face. So did Daya. Freddie's and Sachin's were the usual. Vivek looked excited. Tasha and Kaajal scared. Muskaan on the other hand looked grimmer than ever.

"OK guys now we need to handle everything like we do for a case because one mistake and….." Daya left the sentence incomplete A.C.P. style.

"So what do we do?" Sachin said.

"What do we do? There is nothing to be done. We barge in and grab Tarika and get out." Muskaan bellowed.

"Um….Muskaan if it was that easy we would all not be here, would we?" Vivek said.

"Yeah they will probably give us kicks before we even say a word." Daya said.

"Well, then what are you there for?" Muskaan said angrier now glaring at her boyfriend.

Everyone chuckled at that and even Abhijeet couldn't resist giving a smile at the thought of Daya bashing Tarika's parents.

"They won't give me the opportunity sweet heart." Daya said rubbing Muskaan's hand to calm her down.

"Well then we'll point guns at them!" Muskaan said.

Daya shook his head.

"You do have extraordinarily vivid ideas Muskaan!" Kaajal said.

Muskaan merely hmphed.

Abhijeet was about to remark that it was really not going to create a really good impression if they arrived barging in their house with guns in their hand when suddenly a thought struck him. He swallowed hard and hoped that just like for his last query Daya or someone else would have an answer to this question. If not then they were screwed and were like a three year old lost in the forest.

He cleared his throat to draw everybody's attention and consequently everyone turned to look at him. "Guys we will point guns at them or hit them or even talk to them once we know where they live…." Abhijeet's voice trailed off as everyone stared at him dumbstruck. His heart sank. Apparently nobody else had thought about this either. Everyone had the same horror stricken expression on their face. All but one. And that one happened to be none other than Vivek.

"Vivek?" Freddie said looking at him comically. "You know where Dr. Tarika lives?" Freddie said.

Abhijeet felt hope rising in him again but it felt worse when Vivek said. "No Sir."

He got irritated at that and snapped at him. "Then what the hell are you looking so damn happy about?"

"Because." Vivek said calmly. "I got the phone tracking device and we will track Dr. Tarika's phone. I know she doesn't have it on her but it'll be somewhere in the house only."

Now everyone looked at Vivek instead of at Abhijeet and another change was that this time instead of the horror stricken expression, they all had an awe stricken expression on their faces.

Then Tasha finally managed to splutter . "Vivek, you're a genius." She hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. 'So that is why you got all your clothes in my bag and I thought you were carrying too much when all the time you were carrying the tracker."

"Uh….Yeah. It would have shown an overweight and I wouldn't have been allowed to bring it otherwise." He said blushing badly as he rushed to grab the machine and his fair cheeks remained rosy red as he busied himself arranging it. Tasha always seemed to over react at little thinks but precisely at that moment everyone seemed to admire him and he was not very comfortable with the extra-attention.

"I am sorry for snapping at you earlier Vivek." Abhijeet whispered.

"No need to apologize Sir. I would probably have reacted in the same manner if it had been Tasha." Vivek said smiling kindly. Abhijeet smiled back.

In the background they could here Freddie saying to Sachin. "Ha! What do you think Sachin! He stays with me you know and that is where he is getting his intelligence from."

In another part of the room Daya was saying to Muskaan. "See that is why I was saying we need to act like professionals and be a bit more diplomatic."

Tasha was saying to Kaajal. "I really hope we find Tarika. It is not the same without her."

* * *

In another part of the city, Tarika was lying on her bed. She was hoping and praying that someone from the C.I.D. had gotten her letter and now that she came to think of it she had not specified her address but she couldn't really blame herself for that having hastily scribbled it while her mother had been busy shouting at her from the door on top of that.

She had her I-pod still with her after losing her phone. She was listening to '_Love Story'_ by Taylor Swift. She was hoping with hope against hope that everything would be okay for her just like it was for Taylor after her father finally accepted her 'Romeo' and they got married. She was listening to it again and again.

A tear trickled down her eyelid and she wondered if her personal love story would end in the same manner.

Her mother entered the room just then. "Tarika. Vikram is coming to meet you this evening." And with that marched out.

Tarika felt angered at this. She had already met that prat of a Vikram. And he was worse than when she had last met him and she would have to endure his presence again. She just did not want to tolerate him for the rest of her life and with that a tear fell from her eyes at the thought as her anger changed to sorrow.

"Abhijeet where are you…." She slowly muttered.

* * *

**Hope it was okay. As I said I have had it ready since Friday but couldn't update due to net problems. Do review. And thanks a ton to all who gave their precious time for reading as well as reviewing!**


	3. A New Trouble

**CHAPTER 2: A New Trouble**

"Yes Sir!" Vivek yelled. "Traced!"

Abhijeet almost fell over the sofa in his over excitement. The others followed suite and Freddie really did fall down and was literally dragged to Vivek by Sachin. They all crowded around Vivek's bed.

"Here they are. Not very far from where we are staying. It should take about fifteen minutes to reach there." Vivek said.

Muskaan cracked her knuckles. "Let's go."

"Wait Wait Wait." Abhijeet said. "Use some common sense. We all can't go there."

"And why not?" Muskaan argued.

"Is Tarika's house haunted?" Freddie said.

"Freddieeeeee." Sachin said nudging him while Abhijeet gave him a murderous look.

"It'll cause too much attention to be drawn." Daya said quietly.

"Yeah it will." Tasha said.

"Are we sneaking?" Kaajal said.

"Well what else do you expect?" Abhijeet said. "That we will go there and they will welcome us with open arms and offer us refreshment and give us Tarika! They won't even consider we work in the C.I.D. and might as well shoot us for all I know!"

"So who's coming?" Daya said.

Everyone raised their hands.

"What, no! I just said it'll draw too much of attention to us."

"OK Then I choose. Daya is definitely going. And since Muskaan is too eager she can come too and you come along too Vivek. And that is it." Abhijeet said.

After that nobody dared to argue since it seemed to be the very final word.

* * *

Tarika stifled a yawn. She was tired and badly wanted to sleep. Maybe if she just slept then everything will be fine and she would find that this was all just a very bad nightmare and she would have Abhijeet. But, no, this was not to be. Here she was being forced to sit with a man she detested and who also happened to be trying to convince her that he was the perfect boy for her. But her opinion did not change by even 0.1% In fact she felt more and more annoyed with Vikram's boasting and trying to show that he was great. There simply was no comparison between him and Abhijeet.

"….And did I tell you about the time I went to Switzerland. Guess I did. So why not go there for our honeymoon."

That did it. Tarika's patience was completely over and she jumped up from the lawn chair on which she was sitting out in the garden.

"I told you Vikram. I am not interested in marrying you. And neither am I interested in your oh-so-great aunts or billionaire uncles or out of the world trips. I don't even want to listen to the shit you are talking so I am out of here."

She marched back towards her parent's huge house.

Vikram stared at her apparently not being able to digest what just happened. He had a stony look in his eyes. He muttered. "You will be mine and only mine Tarika."

"Yes of course she will be." A voice said from behind him. He was startled by the sound and abruptly turned around.

To his relief it was only Tarika's mother. She continued not bothered about the start which Vikram gave. "I gave her some time so that she will agree to all this but she is too keen on that C.I.D. inspector it seems."

"So…." Vikram began.

"So I am going to bring her here and she is going to agree to marry you right now."

Vikram stared after her. He could not understand why this girl's mother did not want her to marry the guy she loved and make her marry her. But well it was all too good. His lips slowly curled into a smirk and he softly spoke. " This is how I will get revenge on you, Senior Inspector Abhijeet."

* * *

Vivek came to a halt a few meters before the place where Tarika's phone appeared to be. "This is it Sir. I think it is that black bungalow over there."

"Yeah of course it is. There is no other place in sight. This is definitely not a residential area."

"Let's go guys." Abhijeet said as they all jumped out of the car which they had booked later.

The road was almost deserted except for one or two cars. They slowly began to make their way towards the bungalow. Suddenly they encountered a two drunk fellows who seem to come out of nowhere.

"Hey babe!" One yelled to Muskaan.

"Join us!"

Muskaan was about to retort back but before she had the chance to do so Daya had flung himself onto the two. One hit his head on a nearby tree. The other angered to see his friend yelled. "Angry boyfriend…huh…. I want the chick." He made his way to grab Muskaan but Muskaan was too quick she gave him a kick on the grouch and he doubled up in pain. "Ow…. You bitch!" He fished out a gun from his pocket

Vivek, Abhijeet, Daya and Muskaan needed no second thought in drawing out there guns too.

* * *

_Concurrently back at Tarika's house;_

Tarika's mother had dragged Tarika out in the lawn to Vikram and was now putting up a well planned drama, moaning away.

"You..you never cared about what your father and I did for you. You are selfish! Oh yes you are so don't look like that." She said.

"Mom…No it is not that…"

"It is. You are ungrateful!"

"Mom No."

You say no? Very well then prove it that you care about your parents."

"How?" Tarika said though she knew very well what she was going to say. But she was not that scared any longer. Somewhere deep down in her heart of hearts she knew that Abhijeet would save her. She could even feel that he was somewhere near. He would be there soon. She knew it.

"You know how. Marry Vikram."

Tarika took a deep breath. She knew this already. She clenched her fists and bore her nails into her palms causing blood to ooze out from some parts. It was hurting her a lot but she knew Abhijeet was going to be there for her.

Tarika's thoughts were interrupted by a gun shot.

"W….what was that?" Tarika's mother said.

"We will have to see." Tarika said running out. Her mother tried to stop her but she was gone already. She too followed and Vikram after her.

* * *

It was the drunken guy who shot. He had shot straight at Daya. Daya ducked and the bullet hit the man's friend still lying on the ground. It hit him straight in the chest. He gave a jump and then was totally still. It was obvious that he was dead. This pissed him off.

He immediately turned towards Muskaan and shot. Muskaan did not notice and she too would have had the same fate as the man who had been shot had it not been for Daya who on alert had jumped and pushed Muskaan pulling her down with him. Abhijeet lost no time in pulling the trigger of his gun and shooting at his hand. The gun flew out of his hand and Vivek jumped behind him and placed a gun on his head.

Daya and Muskaan got to their feet and Daya hugged Muskaan. "You are alright, aren't you?" He whispered in her ear. But Muskaan did not have time to reply for a third man appeared out of nowhere and kicked the unsuspecting Vivek. Vivek toppled over and went down along with the man he was holding and his gun flew out of his hand. They fell on Abhijeet who in turn fell on the hugging Daya and Muskaan. All of them lost their weapons in the process.

"Tch….tch…." The third man said.

"That's John! The drug seller." Vivek hissed.

"Intelligent you!" He said pointing at Vivek. "C.I.D. team here and whom do they attack one of my men. But well they are not all that I have. BOYS!"

Immediately eight hefty looking boys came running up and two of them grabbed each C.I.D. member.

On the opposite end of the road Tarika came running and she saw what was happening. She was about to rush forwards to do at least something but her mother pulled her back. Vikram- though he hardly cared- had to play along and they succeeded in pulling Tarika back in. "No!" Her mother said. "They are dangerous. Leave those C.I.D. people."

"They are my friends and…" Tarika stopped. She was about to say 'boyfriend' but stopped just in time. Her mother had heaved her inside. "They will kill you."

Meanwhile the four outside were struggling with the muscular men.

"You will have to pay." Abhijeet said through gritted teeth.

"Just let me free and then see what I do to you." Daya shouted.

"Hah! You people are in no position to make threats so glue your mouths." He said and they were all pushed into a car and driven away.

* * *

**Sorry everyone I took two weeks for this but I was not in the city and the place I had gone to did not have net. I will update on every weekend or before that if possible so don't worry 'bout that! And do drop a review. They make my day :)**

**In reply to a question by Vampire Breath; He gave them leave because it was a big deal and he knew nobody would actually be able to concentrate on work :D**


	4. A Clue

CHAPTER 3: A Clue

She had never thought that she would have to go prowling around in her own house but circumstances were forcing Tarika to do many things she thought she would never do. She knew where she would find her phone but she had still preferred to look all over the house before going there hoping with hope against hope that just by some chance her mother might have left it around somewhere but of course it was not around. Tarika suddenly felt annoyed with herself. She had wasted precious times. She reached the door of her parent's room and placed her hand on it. She badly wanted to return back to her room but then she thought of Abhijeet and her friends. They had come all the way there to save her and if they were in trouble it was because of her and she wouldn't let any harm come to them.

With that she pushed open the room and was greeted by darkness and the sound of her father's snoring. She slowly made her way towards her parent's bed switching on the flash light which she had brought with her. She looked around and right on the side table she saw her cell lying. Wow! That was easy. She moved picked it up. Just then her mother stirred. Her heart skipped a beat but she slowly began to breathe regularly. She heaved a sigh of relief and cautiously walked out and made a beeline for her room.

Once inside she flopped down on her bed. She had to calm herself down first. She had never expected to find the phone that easily. Her mother had probably thought that she wouldn't have the guts to pick it up from right under her nose and hence had not bothered to provide it with better protection.

Then wasting no time she quickly dialed the first number that came to her mind- Tasha.

* * *

"It is almost midnight now." Kaajal said glancing at the clock which showed the time to be ten minutes to twelve.

"Yeah they should have been back by now." Sachin replied.

"What if something happened to them…." moaned Freddie

"Freddie can you ever say something good?" Sachin snapped.

"What do we do Sir? Should we go check?" Tasha said.

"Yes let's go to Tarika's house." Sachin said.

Just then Tasha's phone vibrated in her hand. She checked the caller I.D. and beamed.

"What is it Tasha?" Kaajal asked.

"It is Tarika!" Tasha said.

"Hello!" Tasha said. She listened for sometime without speaking and with each word that Tarika said she grew paler and paler. "Oh…kay don't worry Tarika we will be there shortly. ASAP!"

With that she cut the phone. Freddie, Kaajal and Sachin looked at her both worriedly as well as expectantly.

"What happened?" Sachin said.

"Sir remember John?"

"The drug dealer on whose trail we have been for quite some time now."

"Yes Sir him."

"What about him?" Kaajal said.

"I don't know how but he was outside Tarika's house today and had an encounter with Abhijeet Sir, Daya Sir, Muskaan and Vivek." Her voice choked at Vivek's name. Kaajal put her hands around her shoulder.

"Tasha…Is…." Freddie said.

"NO!" Tasha said a little too loudly causing poor Freddie to jump. She realized it too for she added in a softer voice. "No Sir but….but John and his men have kidnapped them and we don't have any clue as to where they have taken them."

"Well then we will find clues." Sachin said.

"I told Tarika we'll be at her house soon."

"We sure will that is the place we need to hunt for clues first of all." Sachin said getting uo and moving towards the door. His gesture was imitated by the other three who followed him out.

* * *

Daya was pacing up and down, up and down, up and down and up and down. "What do I do….."

"Can't you break the door Sir?" Vivek said.

"No Vivek it is steel. Much beyond me."

They were huddled in a small cupboard size room and Daya pacing around was not helping to accommodate the space for Abhijeet and Vivek. The reason for Daya's anxiety was that Muskaan had been separated from the rest.

"It was Muskaan only who had first got the information about these people and also traced down their drug basement. I shudder to think what they just might do to her if we simply stay put!" Daya said and banged his fist onto the steel door a little too hard and his knuckles began to bleed. He winced.

Abhijeet took his hands in his. "Daya getting emotional is not going to help." He took out his handkerchief and tied it round his palm. "Think practically."

"Sir!" Vivek said.

They both turned to face him. He pointed up. Though the room was very small area wise it had a huge volume and hence a great height. Vivek had just seen a trap door high up which apparently the goons had forgotten to close.

"Awesome Vivek!" Daya said.

* * *

Tarika rushed out to her balcony to look out for the others. The seconds seemed like hours but finally she saw a car pull up and a warm rush ran through her as she saw Tasha, Kaajal, Fredericks and Sachin jump out. She ran down the steps to the door and ran out to the place and finally reached the pthers.

"Guys!" She yelled waving at them.

"Tarika!" Both Kaajal and Tasha ran over to hug her.

After a wonderful reunion which lasted for some time they began to look around. Searching for any sign that those people might have left but there simply seemed to be nothing.

Finally they gave up.

"What now?" Kaajal said. Tarika and Tasha were weeping silently. Slowly Freddie joined them too.

"Stop crying all of you." Sachin said. "Don't worry we will get to them some how. We have seen more hopelessness than this and we have always won."

Just as he said these words Kaajal let out a gasp. "There." She pointed at a far corner. There were a lot of bushes around it and in the dark it would definitely have gone unnoticed by anybody. Even by the sharp eyes of the C.I.D. team. It was only by chance that Kaajal discovered it. There seemed to be something written on it.

All five of them rushed towards it. It was written in a slanting writing easily recognizable as Muskaan's and seemed to be written hurriedly while being dragged away.

"I can't make out what it says exactly." Freddie said.

Tarika squinted at it with her trained Forensic expert's eyes. "L…..L.P.G."

"It says L.P.G." Tarika said.

"What did Muskaan mean by writing the name of a gas cylinder?" Sachin mused.

"L.P.G…." Kaajal began to think. "Liquefied Petroleum Gas."

Then it hit Tasha all of a sudden.

"It's manufacturing house!" She exclaimed.

"Yes!" Tarika said "and there is one closed one just a kilometer from here!"

* * *

Muskaan's head hurt like anything and all she wanted to do was sleep but John would not allow that, He went on striking her one blow after the other with the whip.

"Aw so much fun to see a C.I.D. officer in pain!"

"I…..am…..not in…pain….." Muskaan stuttered out. "You wait till Daya sees this and then see what happens…."

"I am sorry but he won't be able to break a steel door since he does not happen to be Iron Man."

And he gave her a kick in the stomach and on the face.

Muskaan prevented a groan from escaping her lips. She couldn't let this guy see her pain. She couldn't… she couldn't…..

* * *

**Hi everybody I know it has been ages but I have barely had had time to breathe ever since my school re-opened. There is simply too much work and I was usually too tired to write. And I am concurrently also doing another fic and it is way too hectic! So please bear with me. I will try to get the next one up as soon as possible. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. That is what keeps me going!**


	5. In the basement

Chapter 4: In the basement

It was a new moon night so it was a little too dark around the place. The five huddled behind the bushes guns of everybody were out(except Tarika's of course) as they thought of a plan to get in without drawing too much attention to themselves. It was very quiet. So quiet that even their whispers seemed like a scream. After deliberating for a while, they split up. The girls moved towards the left into a clearing which would eventually lead them to the back door of the gas station while Sachin and Freddie cautiously made their way straight ahead to enter from the front door. In case the doors were locked they could see through their torch lights that the windows were open.

It was pretty obvious that they were there because there were at least three cars parked a little away from the ex-gas station.

First to the girls;

Tasha was leading the way and was a little ahead of the other two. They reached the back door and as very much expected it was locked.

"We need to use the window."

Tasha slowly climbed up onto the rim of the window and jumped in and gave a shriek.

"What happened?" Kaajal hissed at her.

Tasha turned to face her red faced. "I stepped on something very soft and I thought it was a dead body or something-you know you get that mind set once you are in C.I.D. - but turns out it was only a rat."

"They must know we are here." Tarika said.

Tasha looked down. "It is not your fault Tasha." Tarika said. "It could have been me or Kaajal too." Tasha nodded as Kaajal made her way in through the window followed by Tarika.

"Let's move somewhere else. They would be here in minutes." Kaajal said.

But just as she was saying this they heard the sound of hefty footsteps coming towards them.

"Quick run!" Was all Tasha managed to get out of her mouth before two male figures could be seen approaching. They moved out of the way but Tarika went the wrong way in the dark and was separated from Tasha and Kaajal. Tasha and Kaajal thought that Tarika was right behind them but unfortunately she was not!

Tarika realized that she had come to a dead end. She turned around not daring to switch on her torch and squinted her eyes to look at the two men. Thank God for her wonderful eye sight! The first man she could see was John- the guy who had kidnapped the officers from outside her house. She could not see the other man.

"What would you give me in return for him?" Tarika heard John say.

"Name the price and you get it." The other man said.

Tarika controlled herself from gasping. The voice-she knew it well for there was not any other voice in the world which she despised more than that. It was Vikram.

"Fine. I am not that bothered about him or any of the others as a matter of fact. Only that girl who got me caught…. Well you won't like to see what I do to her."

Tarika's heart beat fast. The girl definitely was Muskaan. And the guy whom Vikram wanted….She knew that too well. Nobody amongst the three but Abhijeet would interest him.

She swallowed hard and for a moment lost a bit of the conversation but then she heard her own name mentioned and began to listen again.

"I am sorry it is a personal thing for you I take but is it because of Dr. Tarika you want him?"

"You are good at guessing. Yes it is for her."

"And how may I know are you exactly going to use him?"

"Brutally my friend. These C.I.D. officers are moved easily and I only want that girl to teach him a lesson. I will do all sorts of horrible things to him similar to what you are planning to do with the chick down in the basement and get her to do as I say."

Tarika listened to all this hardly daring to breathe. She knew there was something wrong with this Vikram but it was still going to be hard to make her parents see sense. She wished that she had tape recorded what he had said but her brains had been frozen at the moment and she could not think clearly. Just then she heard footsteps running towards that side.

"Sir! Sir!" Somebody called.

"What happened?" John said somewhat irritated. He had clearly been enjoying his little chat with Vikram.

"Sir the three C.I.D. officers ran away." One of the men of John said.

"WHAT!" Vikram explained.

"They couldn't have gone far." John said turning to him trying to pacify him. Then he turned to his man and spoke sharply. "Go NOW! Get all the men to search everywhere. Search every corner and get them here."

Daya, Vivek and Abhijeet had indeed managed to get out through the trap door. Daya had heaved Vivek up and helped him get out through it and Vivek in turn had run down and managed to get the other two out.

Now they were looking around for Muskaan and made their way into the basement. Daya who was walking right up in front banged into someone. He gave a yelp and Daya immediately knew who it was.

"Freddie!" Daya exclaimed. "How did you get here? And you too Sachin?"

Sachin hurriedly explained the others what had happened.

"You mean Tarika is here?" Abhijeet said.

"Yes Sir. She managed to escape."

"And Muskaan is right there." Freddie said slowly pointing towards the basement where two men stood.

That was it Daya moved past Freddie straight into the basement.

"She's beautiful." One man was saying.

"Can't we keep her for ourselves and tell Boss she ran away or something?"

That did it. Daya saw red as he bashed up the two men who were caught by Abhijeet and Sachin and they tied them up while Vivek and Freddie stood guard at the entry to the basement.

"Muskaan!" Daya said shaking her. "Muskaan."

Abhijeet ran over to him.

"She is barely breathing…." Daya said.

* * *

**I do so love leaving chapter endings on cliff hangers! OK I got two requests and I was sadly not able to fulfill either. One was to update soon and the other was to make a lengthy chapter. I am really very sorry. I was having tests every day and sometimes there were two to three tests everyday and if we don't do well in them then there is a problem getting the desired subjects next year. Hope you guys understand. And it is 1 at night and I really want to sleep so the chapter was not too long. I will try my best for the next one. Last weekend I updated 'Love Wins All' my other fic and there was barely any time to write for this so I got it up today. And thanks to all who read and reviewed. And don't forget to review. I am not really getting a good response for this one. OK I will stop now before the author's note becomes bigger than the chapter itself!**


	6. Showdown in the gas station

**CHAPTER 5: SHOWDOWN IN THE GAS STATION**

"Should I call the ambulance?" Freddie said.

"Are you mad?" Abhijeet snapped. "Of course we can't call an ambulance here. We are trying to escape from a villain's den for God's sake Freddie talk some sense for once."

"Sorry!"

"Listen Sachin you give me the car keys and I will take her to the hospital. I'll go through the back door." Daya said his voice shaking slightly while he kept a hand on Muskaan's wrist not letting go of her pulse.

"I'll come with you Sir. Don't go alone." Sachin said.

"Alright." Daya said as he heaved Muskaan up and he and Sachin made their way out.

"What now?" Vivek said.

"Now we look for the girls and beat the shit out of these jerks and then leave." Abhijeet said firmly.

* * *

Tarika began to move back slowly. Vikram as still standing there and she did not want to attract any attention to herself but as luck would have it as soon as she turned she banged into something….it seemed like a gas cylinder she supposed but in any case, that hardly mattered anymore. What mattered was that Vikram had seen her and was pacing towards her. She turned around to run but he was too quick for her and caught her and grabbed her.

"Hey honey! What are you doing here? Missing me?"

"Let go of me." Tarika said through gritted teeth.

"Or what…." Vikram said making a pathetic baby sound. "Abhijeet will hit me. OO I am scared. Not. He has run away as I see you have heard already and you my dear are going to help me get him back." He added firmly.

"No you are not." Tarika said equally firmly.

"You don't have the upper hand here babe. I do." He said as men suddenly appeared out of nowhere and surrounded them. Vikram cocked an eyebrow as if telling her 'you see what I mean'.

"We have seen worse." Tarika said simply.

"I will make you see the _worst_ in minutes."

Just a little away in another dark corner Tasha and Kaajal were watching this.

"What do we do?" Kaajal said slightly panicked.

"We'll have to do something but they are too many for us to take even if we do meet up with the guys." Tasha said.

"But we just can't leave Tarika here."

"No of course we can't."

"We'll have to cause a distraction."

"OK yes I got it." Tasha said. "Look I will go over to the other side and shoot. These men will rush that side. You give Vikram some kicks or punches or whatever but get him away from Tarika and then run with her."

"What about you but?"

"I will run towards the other side and follow you, okay."

But alas for them it didn't quite work out that way.

Abhijeet and Vivek were just round the next corner (Freddie had been sent to look out) and they heard Vikram and Tarika practically screeching at each other. They began to make their way towards that side. Tasha meanwhile made her way towards the other side of the room and according to the plan fired. As expected the men made a beeline towards the shot. Vikram still held on to Tarika not sure what was happening. But Abhijeet suddenly appeared there and gave Vikram a kick and pushed him out of the way causing him to recoil and fall back.

Now everything would have gone alright but Kaajal who according to the plan was making her way towards Tarika tripped over Vikram's fallen body and crashed into a pile of gas cylinders causing them to fall. Abhijeet was able to pull Tarika out but the crashing had startled Tasha who could not run as fast as she had expected she would have and the men reached out surrounding her and then Vikram getting onto his feet in the chaos fired in the air causing everyone to stop and stand still.

"I have still got one of you." He said obviously irritated from the uproar that had just taken place and pointed at Tasha and the men.

"You let her go now." Vivek said.

"What if I say I won't?"

Vivek was about to launch himself on Vikram when he said. "No boy. One wrong move and the girl goes."

But Kaajal lying on the ground realized that another distraction had to be caused so she pushed all the cylinders up front and Vikram again rolled over and Tasha dodged out from in between. Then they all ran out as fast as possible.

Vikram stared after then and then turning to John's men said. "No point in following them. They will overcome you in some way or the other fools as you are. I have another plan. Listen."

It was dawn time now and there was the dim red light of the sun as they made their way towards Tarika's house. She had been holding Abhijeet's hand through out as she had buried her head into his chest and slept. And finally they were there.

Tarika opened the door of her room and her eyes opened wide in shock!

* * *

**This chapter is over short I know and I have never written something so short but I really needed to update this as you know! Oh and by the way I am a girl. Just telling because people often mistake me for a boy dunno why. Maybe because of my out of the ordinary pen name. It has a meaning-my pen name I mean. OK I really need to shut up now! Do review!**


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